Friday, February 12, 2010

Beer, Old Age and Osteoporosis

The other day I was discussing wildlife matters with my friend Rajiv. By chance it veered towards beer. Rajiv is an aficionado of beer. When I told him about this excellent article about beer that I had read in Sciencedaily he was fascinated and insisted that I share it with others by putting the new info on my blog even though the focus of my blog is wildlife. So folks here it comes

A new study by researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis has come up with the finding that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. The researchers examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer.

Silicon is present in beer in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA). Soluble OSA is important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue, and beer appears to be a major contributor to Si intake. Based on these findings the studies suggest that moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, a disease of the skeletal system.

The hop samples analyzed showed surprisingly high levels of silicon with as much as four times more silicon than is found in malt. Highly hopped beers naturally would have higher silicon levels. The average silicon content of the beers sampled was 6.4 to 56.5 mg/L.

So aficionados of beer quaff your drink but in moderation.

Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry.